Becoming a Virtual Mat Rempit

There’s a phenomenon right here in Malaysia known as “Mat Rempit”. A typical “Mat Rempit” tends to be in his youth, and in his youthful exuberance, have an affinity for high speed motorcycle races and performing stunts on the aforementioned bikes.

Sounds like fun eh, but they are also known for their mob mentality (if one crashes into you on the road, expect his posse to come and beat you, and your car, up). Mob mentality aside, I can understand the thrill of going really fast, especially on two wheels. The rush of adrenaline with the knowledge that a motorbike isn’t exactly a safe or stable place to be on at high speed, can be quite addictive.

But what about motorcycle racing games? I’ve probably tried a number of motorcycle games on the Nintendo DS, but due to the platform’s limitations, you can, at most, expect a rather same-same racing experience.

Now, for motorbike thrills, you’ll need a real console. Either the one that looks like either a sandwich maker or the one that looks like an hour glass would do just fine. The game in question? Burnout Paradise.

Isn’t that the game that encourages you that crashing into other cars would actually help you win races, you ask. Yes, but the game recently received an online update that not only added a dynamic weather system, but also bikes…lots and lots of bikes.

While Mat Rempits usually stick to their 100cc or 125cc cubs, these virtual bikes look to be of MotoGP or touring class, no cub rubbish in this game. As for stunts, where else can you do wheelies into oncoming traffic in the relative safety of your own home? Even so, I wish Criterion would have given players the ability to do the “Superman” on them bikes..

P/S: Console games are too big, and therefore too time consuming for me to review in one shot, therefore I would probably talk about bits and pieces or about specific features of a particular game.